Chain life?

[shereth]

On my way to work today I noticed a funny sort of scraping/scratching/grating sound when I would let off on the throttle. Same on the way home. Took a look at the chain and it seemed unusually loose - enough that I could easily pull it up against the swingarm. Yikes!

I was a little confused because the last time I rode it (last week) I noticed no such issue, and the weekend before I did a lube/clean and measured the tension and it seemed okay. Decided to go ahead and adjust it tonight but ran into some trouble getting the tension right - if I tightened it up enough that I couldn't pull it against the swingarm, it would be almost too tight to turn the wheel in other spots.

I understand this is a sign that the chain has seen better days and it's time to replace it (and the sprockets while I'm at it). However it has just under 10k miles on it (OEM parts). The last 8000 miles of it have been my own. I haven't been quite religious about cleaning and lubing it, but I haven't ever let it go more than 800 miles in between.

Is this the average life I can expect out of the chain? Have I doomed it to a premature exit by not being religious enough about the maintenance? Have I just hit a little bit of bad luck?

[oblivion007]

Well I'm a believer that a chain Can give out in under 10k miles. Are there any kinks in the chain where the links don't freely rotate? Also by the sound of it it I wonder if you adjusted the chain at its tight spot. So everywhere else it would be a little looser. Also 800 mi in my head seems excessive for the conditions I live in.

You should consider if you live in a dusty/sandy area or rainy area and lube the chain appropriately. I recall the manual suggest an interval of every 300 miles and adjust for riding conditions. In my case winds carry a lot of sand and after three chains kinking prematurely I've changed to an interval of every 150 miles and my chain is doing great.

So if you don't have kinks just consider lubing it more often and adjust it properly.

[shereth]

Originally Posted by oblivion007

Well I'm a believer that a chain Can give out in under 10k miles. Are there any kinks in the chain where the links don't freely rotate? Also by the sound of it it I wonder if you adjusted the chain at its tight spot. So everywhere else it would be a little looser. Also 800 mi in my head seems excessive for the conditions I live in.

You should consider if you live in a dusty/sandy area or rainy area and lube the chain appropriately. I recall the manual suggest an interval of every 300 miles and adjust for riding conditions. In my case winds carry a lot of sand and after three chains kinking prematurely I've changed to an interval of every 150 miles and my chain is doing great.

So if you don't have kinks just consider lubing it more often and adjust it properly.

Yeah there's a few links that seem a bit kinked up. I suppose I just need to convert to the church of more frequent maintenance. I can also look at this as a good a time as any to regear the bike for highway riding

[oblivion007]

Originally Posted by shereth

Yeah there's a few links that seem a bit kinked up. I suppose I just need to convert to the church of more frequent maintenance. I can also look at this as a good a time as any to regear the bike for highway riding

Yup. You can likely take that chain several miles more. Any idea if you adjusted the chain at its tight spot? If you didn't that just means the tight spot is likely too tight. If anything I'd rather err on the side of looseness than to tightness.

But if you're looking for an excuse set to rehear the sprockets, no one is stopping you

[BoBO]

You probably just need to clean and lube the chain. The OEM chain on the 08+ Ninjas should last around 16k+ assuming you lube the chain every 400 miles. I'm glad I don't live in dusty/ rainy places.

[vkuchhal]

I have been using the the Rolon 520 link chain which is an x ring chain for around 16000 miles now and hopefully it is still going strong with the lube interval at every 300 miles and i follow it religiously.

[Ghostt]

A chain is a consumable item, approximately 15,000 miles.

With that said, you can get the most out of it through proper maintenance, and care.

But once it starts to stretch it's time to replace it.

[Racer x]

There is a man named Bill Hoddnott. He wrote a blog about riding 140000 Miles on his 88 250 ninja. He gave me the bike and now rides a 300 after 15000 miles on an 2010. Bill uses 90 weight gear oil on his chains. When I got his 88 it was so gunked with grease in the chain guard I had to scrape it out. He has 30000 miles on the 300 he rides every day. The 2010 his soninlaw rids has 25000 miles both bikes are still on the original chains.

Gear oil is to messey for me. But I can't deny what I see.

[MetaOrbit]

Originally Posted by shereth

On my way to work today I noticed a funny sort of scraping/scratching/grating sound when I would let off on the throttle. Same on the way home. Took a look at the chain and it seemed unusually loose - enough that I could easily pull it up against the swingarm. Yikes!

I was a little confused because the last time I rode it (last week) I noticed no such issue, and the weekend before I did a lube/clean and measured the tension and it seemed okay. Decided to go ahead and adjust it tonight but ran into some trouble getting the tension right - if I tightened it up enough that I couldn't pull it against the swingarm, it would be almost too tight to turn the wheel in other spots.

I understand this is a sign that the chain has seen better days and it's time to replace it (and the sprockets while I'm at it). However it has just under 10k miles on it (OEM parts). The last 8000 miles of it have been my own. I haven't been quite religious about cleaning and lubing it, but I haven't ever let it go more than 800 miles in between.

Is this the average life I can expect out of the chain? Have I doomed it to a premature exit by not being religious enough about the maintenance? Have I just hit a little bit of bad luck?

FWIW - I just replaced the chain on my '09 - at about 10.5K miles. From what I could tell the previous owner almost never cleaned or lubed the chain, and when I took a close look noticed almost 1/3 to 1/2 the rollers on the chain were gone

[Chrit]

My chain was also stretching very often. I would adjust it, and about a week later it would be against the swingarm again. This is a sign to replace your chain. Its life will depend how well you maintain the chain, if you use engine braking and if you're heavy on the throttle.

When you replace your chain, you're meant to also replace the front and rear sprockets.
My ride is noticably smoother now that they've been replaced.

The chain lasted me 22,000km (13,670 miles)

[Net-Tech]

got approximately 22,000 miles out of the first 2 chains (each for 44k)
Was using blue label special chain lube for 1st and half life of the 2nd chain.
Switched to gear oil. It is a little messy but gear oil seems to attract less gunk and stays unrusty compared to 'chain lube'. Also have not needed to adjust 3rd chain as much (if at all) and already have about 7k on this chain.

[cadd]

I have around 9,000 miles on my bike. Lately, I've noticed the delta between tight spot on the chain vs the loose spot on the chain has increased.

In the past, there was only about 1/3" of play between the tight spot and the loose spot. Nowadays, that became 1" of play between tight spot and loose spot.

When I adjust my chain, I find the tight spot and adjust it so that there is a little less than 1" of movement on the chain. When I rotate to the loose spot of the chain, I have a tad over 2" of free play. I have a feeling it may be time for a new chain soon.

[Norway]

Originally Posted by shereth

On my way to work today I noticed a funny sort of scraping/scratching/grating sound when I would let off on the throttle. Same on the way home. Took a look at the chain and it seemed unusually loose - enough that I could easily pull it up against the swingarm. Yikes!

I was a little confused because the last time I rode it (last week) I noticed no such issue, and the weekend before I did a lube/clean and measured the tension and it seemed okay. Decided to go ahead and adjust it tonight but ran into some trouble getting the tension right - if I tightened it up enough that I couldn't pull it against the swingarm, it would be almost too tight to turn the wheel in other spots.

I understand this is a sign that the chain has seen better days and it's time to replace it (and the sprockets while I'm at it). However it has just under 10k miles on it (OEM parts). The last 8000 miles of it have been my own. I haven't been quite religious about cleaning and lubing it, but I haven't ever let it go more than 800 miles in between.

Is this the average life I can expect out of the chain? Have I doomed it to a premature exit by not being religious enough about the maintenance? Have I just hit a little bit of bad luck?

I bought my 250R new, in spring 2012. About a year ago I changed the chain and sprockets, after about 11 - 12000 miles (18-19 000 km). I lubed it about weekly, and was surprised that it was worn out in such a short time. I have been using the bike close to the cost, in mid-Norway, where it's raining a lot.
Not the best environment for wear, tear and corrosion to certain parts of the bike.

[wardie]

O ring chains use an O ring to seal the lubricant in the pin roller area. The only reason you clean and oil that chain is to simply keep the exterior surface of the rollers from rusting.

Non o ring chains another story all together. They need constant maintenance to get rollers lubed and exteriors free of rust. Most chains on low power bikes like our 250's don't stretch a lot unless you're trying wheelies from a dead start. Eventually they all stretch to a point where they're in need of replacement.

I've forgotten the exact measurement but it's something like 21 links should equal a certain measurement. Both Clymer and factory shop manuals tell u what it is.

Occasional cleaning and lubing and adjustment in normal riding conditions equals long chain life. Riding in the rain and not cleaning and lubing afterwards definitely decreases chain life.